NJ Just Elected a Near Communist to Be Their Governor

Since the running of MTV’s Jersey Shore earlier in the decade, New Jersey has been painted across the country as the armpit of America. Of course, the laughable governorship of Chris Christie didn’t help either, and set up the state to elect a man governor who will do more damage than all of his predecessors combined.

The 2017 gubernatorial race in New Jersey flew under the radar until the weeks leading up to the election. The two primary candidates were former DNC finance chairman and 23-year Goldman Sachs veteran Phil Murphy, and NJ’s Lieutenant Governor, Republican Kim Guadagno.

The two candidates offered vastly different platforms, painting starkly contrasting futures for New Jerseyans to decide. Guadagno wanted to roll back New Jersey’s already strict gun control laws while Murphy seeks to bolster them, as well as increase taxes on the purchase of firearms (the NRA gave Murphy an F rating on guns). Guadagno opposed raising the minimum wage, citing the laws of economics as her reason for opposition, while Murphy wants to raise it to $15. Guadagno focused her campaign around lowering New Jersey’s high property taxes. Guadagno was so committed to lowering property taxes that according to the New York Times, she was “promising not to run for re-election if she is unable to lower them.” While Murphy claimed he wanted to ease property taxes, he “also has proposed raising other taxes, including a so-called millionaires tax, closing corporate tax loopholes as well as legalizing and taxing marijuana.”

But if you thought the horrors of a Murphy governorship end there, you would be wrong. A quick pass through Murphy’s issues page on his website Murphy4NJ.com shows no love of liberty, and only a love for government, regulation, and redistribution of wealth. Murphy’s economic agenda involves increasing spending for infrastructure, education, student loan relief, and healthcare. In addition to this, he wants to implement a public bank in New Jersey to bail out small businesses, student loans, and fund infrastructure projects. On his website, he also says he wants to “make millionaires and corporations pay their fair share of taxes, so we can make the investments we need in our schools.”

Murphy wants to build a “fairer economy for every New Jersey family” and wishes to help “all New Jersey residents find secure and meaningful work.” He supports free community college, government sponsored job training, and government funding for clean energy programs. On his website, he attacks Chris Christie for slashing funding to NJ Transit, New Jersey’s public transportation service.

On top of this, the governor-elect wants to help create retirement plans for New Jersey workers. He supports “women’s rights” issues, such as ensuring equal pay, and government funding to Planned Parenthood. A blatant opponent of property rights, Murphy seeks to ensure LGBTQ inclusion, and wants to make access to healthcare non-discriminatory.

While his list of fouls against liberty rage on, some of his more notable positions include wanting to expand democracy in NJ, which libertarian economist Hans-Hermann Hoppe has called a “soft variant of communism.” Murphy also wants to let 17 year olds to vote in primaries if they’ll be 18 come election day. And perhaps most notably, Murphy seeks to make New Jersey a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants, seeking to provide them with drivers licenses, financial aid, earned sick leave, and workplace protections.

New Jersey may have been on the brink of collapse before, but the election of Phil Murphy is what will bring down the state for good.